An alleged Ku Klux Klan member has been found incompetent to stand trial in the killing of an Oklahoma woman who reportedly tried to back out of a Klan initiation ceremony last year in St. Tammany Parish.

State Judge Reginald "Reggie" Badeaux on Tuesday ordered Shane Foster, 21, of the Bogalusa area to get tutoring from a court-appointed forensic coordinator in the St. Tammany Parish jail for the next 90 days with the hope that it would "restore" Foster's competency and make him ready for trial on a charge of obstruction of justice.

Dr. Michelle Garriga, who was appointed by the court to examine Foster and did so on March 16, testified Tuesday that Foster does "not have a factual understanding" of the law or its procedures.

She said he has "cognitive deficits," "an ignorance of legal understanding" and that he is "mildly mentally retarded or a little above that."

Garriga, who works in the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System's forensic division, said Foster does not understand the role of judges, attorneys, jurors or defendants; does not comprehend the difference between guilt and innocence; and is not aware of his legal rights.

He is the son of Raymond "Chuck" Foster, the alleged imperial wizard of the Bogalusa Sons of Dixie Knights. Raymond Foster is charged with second-degree murder in the Nov. 9 shooting death of Klan recruit Cynthia Lynch in a remote part of northeastern St. Tammany. Authorities have said the slaying occurred after Lynch told Foster that she wanted to go home.

While the elder Foster is not scheduled for a hearing until May 18, two other alleged Klan members, Frank Stafford and Danielle Jones, also appeared for hearings in front of Badeaux on Tuesday.

Stafford also faces an obstruction of justice charge, while Jones is facing accessory after the fact.

Nothing further happened in Stafford's case, but Jones' bond was reduced from $300,000 to $25,000, an amount her attorney said her family could afford.

Badeaux agreed to the bond reduction because the initial bond was set when Jones was facing an obstruction of justice charge. The grand jury instead decided to charge her with accessory after the fact, allegedly for giving authorities false information immediately after the death.

The obstruction of justice charges carry a maximum of 40 years in prison, while the accessory after the fact charge carries a maximum of five years.

Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch@timespicayune.com or 985.898.4827.